Well figured it was time to post about my other new game and what I'm doing with it.

Thought it was going to be a plug and play but that didn't work out so well. Too many things wrong with it for me not to start tearing into things again.

Today I got some good stuff accomplished. At first glance I thought this pin had been properly Shopped but it turns out none of the Steppers, Score Wheels, and most likely none of the switches were cleaned except for a few that had to be done by the seller to get the game to work properly.

What I did today. Sounds like a grammar school paper....

*Cleaned and lubed 2 Score Wheels. One I had to rebuild an EOS Switch that had lost its Contact on one of them
*Attached the Head with new Head bolts and washers and cleaned connecting Jones Plugs
*Repaired/replaced Posts and screws under Playfield Metal Triangle Light Rack Grid - Cleaned Sockets/new Bulbs
*Cleaned/Lubed Large Stepper in Head.

Hopefully I will be done working on the Backbox by end of day Wednesday or Thursday then go the the top side of the Playfield from there.

Found out I need to buy some new legs as the ones on it are the wrong size and a bit too rusty for my taste .

Turns out as well that the Playfield Posts on my machines are wrong as 1/2 are clear and 1/2 yellowed white. The good news is I already have enough of the new posts on hand to replace them all!

Some not so good news is that 3 Posts were installed that are not original to the machine on the Playfield and all holes will have to be filled and paint touch up. 2 are on the Outlanes and 1 was in the middle of the 3 Pop Bumpers, but nothing was installed between the Flippers which is actually great news as the holes are all in painted areas.

Lots more to do and parts to buy but I will get into that as progress continues. Making a big list for PBR next week so I can get an order together for all 3 of my new machines.

I'll post pictures when I can.

Ken

Yea Chris, I will be buying a Schematic and Manual from PBR next week but I am good in the meantime as I did not get these with the machine but I did get both for my Prospector from the same seller, go figure.

Ken

OK. Finally some final pictures as It is pretty much done except that I need to install some new Orange Dot Flipper Coils as the originals are shot even after I tuned up everything else that goes to it.........PBR here I come again!

In this first set of pictures I will just tell you what was done as I have no pictures of the process of the rehabilitation as it is not one of my full blown restorations which I usually document better.

What it has New: (Cleaning/Polishing/Wax is a given for me so I will not detail that)

* Legs/Bolts/Levelers/leg pads
* Coin Inserts (25 Cent/2 Plays)
* Beer Seal
* 2- 25 cent Coin Mechs
*Barrel /Shooter Rod Springs

Note: Existing Rubber Bands were in good shape and not replaced yet but I do have a new set on standby when needed.

Ken

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Other new parts:

*2 Lamp Sockets in Head ( may need to do another 2 but I see if they decide to keep working on their own)
*All old #44 light bulbs changed out and replaced with #47 & a couple #455 Blinkers.
*Schematic/Manual/Instruction/Score Cards

It should be noted that the light Rack Grid lamp Sockets are in good shape which made me very happy as I do not need to rebuild the Grid. Also a note that my Backglass is not great but not bad but will be replaced with a new one if Shay or Ron decides to reproduce them.

Ken

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Other new parts installed:

*3 Pop Bumper Caps
* All White Playfield Posts

Playfield was paint touched up quite a bit by yours truly and came out pretty darn good if I do say so. The Light Rack had extensive touch up using a black acrylic paint pen for the number circle outlines as well.

3 additional Playfield posts were installed by someone that were not original and were removed and holes repaired and painted. One was between the 3 Pop Bumpers and the other 2 were next to both Outlanes but did not put one between the Flippers which surprised me.

Ken

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And some other Playfield pictures.

I will note that All Steppers and Score wheels were cleaned/lubed but Switches were not except for all Flipper related ones and one in the Head to a Score Wheel that had a missing contact on a EOS Switch that had to be rebuilt.

Looks like I still need to buff the Playfield a bit as I see some excess wax lines so I'm sure I will get it to really pop!

The wife and I got to Play it tonight as it works 100% (except for weak Flippers) but was still very fun and I turned it over twice on my second game! Pop pop pop said the Knocker! The wife likes the game as well so that is always a plus. Definitely more fun then my old Gottlieb Bank Shot AAB, at least for me.

Funny how I have 9 machines but this is the only one in the house right now that works. I think my CC Casino will be the next to get going because I cannot paint my Prospector as the weather was -10 Degrees this morning and I can only paint outdoors....oh well.

I'll take pictures of the inside of the Cabinet and under the Playfield soon and do some more show and tell with you guys soon.

My Condition rating of the game: Cabinet Paint 9.0/Cabinet itself an 8.0 - Backglass 7.0 - Playfield 8.5
My Fun Rating: Awesome!

Happy Pinballing!

Ken

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Thanks!

Someone already paint touched up the Kickout Holes and did a good job but also installed the small round self adhesive 1-7/8" Mylar Protectors so it will never get worn again. I plan to buy these myself and install them on all my pins from now with a few exceptions as it does not affect Gameplay whatsoever. I will however not install Slingshot Mylars as I think it is overkill on on EM as Ball Hop from Kickout holes and Pop Bumpers is the main problem.

Play Meter currently reads only 8503 plays.

Ken

Craftsmart Fine Line Black Pen which was purchased at Michaels Craft Store. Wish they had a very fine line available.

Ken

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Thanks.

A couple more shots of the Playfield during the day.

Ken

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Looks like I may rebuild the Light Rack Grid down the road as once in a while a light bulb here and a light bulb there will go dim then I have to open up the machine and fiddle with them a bit and they are good for another few games.

I'll make it a project when I get to the Southwest next year.

Ken

Pretty much done with this baby.

Turns out the light Rack on the Playfield works fine after some minor adjustments so no need to rebuild it for now.

Installed some Orange Dot Flipper Coils a couple days ago as the original coils were weak and now the Ball gets to where it is going quickly and with hesitation!

Fun game and the wife loves it too! Both are keepers for sure!

Ken

It's time. Too many lamps going dim now. I rebuilt my Rack Light Grid on my Gottlieb Bank Shot a couple of years ago and it turned out great. I will post a how to on this thread once I get it done.

Ken

Well, I rebuilt the Light Socket Rack Grid. Just got tired of dim lights and I am one in favor of replacement rather then trying to fiddle with bad sockets and wire hacks. Come on guys, its only 15 new light sockets you have to buy to make this unit last another 30-40 years.

Here are the pictures of the unit as it was originally and then taken out of the machine. I marked all the wires with tags but also as a backup in case they fell off (which many did) I also drew a diagram of the unit with all the wires and colors marked before I cut the wires and uninstalled the unit.(see 4th photo)

I also marked the back of the units plate with a Sharpie "B-15" indicating this was the backside and the #15 socket was at the top for reference. I decided as well that I was going to use new orange wires for the connections that require 2 wires to a socket.

Ken

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The first picture shows me with a pair of dykes crushing the light sockets in order to get them out of the unit. When you are trying to get these out just concentrate on the top side of the sockets where the bulbs go into as the socket stem will eventually fall through the bottom after repeated crushing of the socket and release it from the unit.

Patience is the key with this procedure as you preferably do not want to bend the unit pulling out the sockets. Your hand will be a little sore after doing this on fifteen light sockets, but it is the only way I know to get the factory pressed ones out.

The second picture shows all the old sockets have been removed. Notice how the unit itself is not bent from me going to town crushing 15 sockets.

In the third picture you can see I am over size drilling the original holes with a 7/16" drill bit. Be careful doing this as once the drill bit starts going through the metal it will want to twist the unit, and will to some point, just keep it to as little as possible by securing 2 screws in the wood through the unit to help hold it in place.

Once you get all the holes drilled get a pair of small tin snips and cut off any metal edges sticking up from the units holes, then get a hammer and flatten the unit and edges around the holes on a smooth flat surface until it is flat again.

In the forth picture you can see the new light sockets. (PBR laydown bracket A-2913 .70 cents each . Reference # Bally E-120-99) Also look at the bottom right hand side of the unit and you will see a small hole by a small clump of solder. This is where you will be reattaching your two ground wires to make a mechanical wire attachment rather than just soldering it back the way the factory had it. Just use any small drill bit you have that will accommodate two small wires.

The light socket on the left is how you have to bend the socket with your dykes to work with the new and improved unit. The light socket on the right is how the new sockets come from the factory before you modify them. You will also bend the electrical tab up that the lamp wires attach to. (see 5th picture as well)

Make sure to grab a light socket and test pushing it through the new holes you have made. If some of them don't quite fit you will have to re-drill the holes and then flatten the unit with the hammer once again as I did.

Note: The holes you drill will not be perfectly round (far from it) but do not worry about this as once the lamp sockets are installed you will not see this and it will not matter. Also at this point you will want to get some rubbing alcohol and a paper towel and clean both sides of the unit, just make sure you make a note of any Sharpie markings, as you will doing some soldering a bit later.

Ken

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Now we start putting the unit back together.

In the first and second picture you can see that all the sockets are in and look great IMO. You will push the lamp sockets in from the back of the plate and make sure that they sit flush from the topside. You will then use some small self tapping sheet metal screws to secure the sockets to the unit from the backside as well. You can pretty much use any small size screw as long as it goes through the socket bracket hole as you have plenty room from the from when they stick out.

As you can see from the photos the unit has more of a heavy duty industrial look to it now.

Ken

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The final part...finally.

Now that you have all the lamp sockets screwed in you will do another step to insure the electrical connection to the unit is solid by adding a drop of solder to the ends of the new lamp sockets.

Make sure to use a heavy duty solder iron as you will need a lot of heat to get those drops of solder to adhere to the unit as there is a lot of surface metal in which the heat transfer gets lost. I also apply a rosin flux prior to soldering to help the heat transfer to the metal quickly. I use a specific solder gun for this job which is my Weller Professional 260/200 watts solder gun (Grandpa would be proud) with regular 60/40 rosin core solder.

The last part is soldering all the wires back to unit which is easy because you already wrote down where the wires go. I also got the Sharpie out again and marked the bottom of the unit with the wire numbers for fast and easy setup of soldering the wires to the right sockets. Some of the cloth wire may inevitably have some burns from the solder gun touching the cloth or too much heat applied too long which is not a big deal, just be careful to keep it to a minimum as the cloth wire will remain functionally intact, just some discoloration.

The last picture shows you the final product which is a super lighted Rack Grid Unit and that is using only #47 light bulbs as well

This unit will now rock because if a lamp socket ever goes bad in the unit down the road all you have to do is keep the unit in place under the Playfield, un-solder the socket, remove the screws, cut the wires, and presto the lamp socket has been removed.

Now I can enjoy my game and know exactly what my goals are now that my light Rack Unit is 100% and working for good.

This modification can be applied to other light grids as well, small or large, so hopefully this little tutorial helps someone else out there get their game on.....and lights too.

Ken

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Thanks guys!

I did a rebuild like this on my 1976 Gottlieb Bank Shot too so this was my second time around and I did not change anything as it worked so well the first time. It does not take that much time either, maybe 4 hours to take out, modify, and re-install.

Ken